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I am a New Englander, a Southerner, my own woman, Rex's daughter, a quivering mass of contradictions. Nothing here means any more or less than you want it to mean. This and a buck fifty will get you coffee. But it's me. And I really like that.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

At my first job out of college, we had a wonderful client who used to tell her children not to use the word try. "Don't talk to me about trying," she'd say. "Talk to me about doing." Now, you and I both know this is a take on Yoda's "Do or do not. There is no try" but her kids were young enough to think this was all mom's wisdom.

To a great extent, I believe in this, if it comes from my former client or if it comes from Yoda. But to a great extent, I recognize that dealing in absolutes or extremes stifles us. If we don't 100% know we are going to suceed, we don't even try.

Because what happens when you have something that other people have the final say over? Something that you cannot, eventually, control. As I've gotten older, I've come to understand that sometimes the fact that you tried at all is the success. Sometimes, that's where the real courage is. Whatever the outcome, the fact that you tried, that you had the courage to even put yourself out there, is something no one can take away from you. Sometimes, "try" is "do" after all.

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comments:

Well all I can say is that you must have been reading my mind....I just received a rejection letter for an essay that I was "trying" to get published. I was thinking to myself, why did I even bother? I have learned from this experience and will apply it to the next.

An important learning is that there is no such thing as a failure. Any experienced research scientist or entrepreneur will likely agree. Whatever happens, it is data for the next round. Like Bill says...

AppsRUs ~ Forgive me, I have just noticed this comment. And that's it exactly. One of my favorite quotes is from Thomas Edison: I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully discovered 10,000 ways that didn't work.